In this photo from March 20, 2011, Pittsburgh Penguins' Matt Cooke (24) is escorted from the ice by NHL linesman Derek Amell (75) after he was ejected for elbowing New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh

Keith Srakocic, Associated Press - Ap

Boogaard family OK with Cooke wearing No. 24 for Wild

Article by: MICHAEL RUSSO

July 10, 2013 - 8:16 AM

Matt Cooke will don a Wild sweater for the first time during a media gathering Wednesday.

The number? Twenty-four.

Cooke, signed by the Wild on Friday, has worn No. 24 his entire career — the same number once worn by the late Derek Boogaard, the former Wild enforcer. Out of respect, Cooke reached out to Boogaard’s parents, Joanne and Len, to make certain they felt comfortable if Cooke wore the number.

Former Wild winger Martin Havlat wore 24 after Boogaard in Minnesota, but no Wild player has since Boogaard died May 13, 2011. Cooke wanted to first get the blessing of Boogaard’s parents.

“I want to let them know that by putting it on I’m absolutely not doing anything disrespectful,” Cooke said Monday. “I don’t want anyone’s feelings hurt.”

“I’m very impressed with Matt for what he did by reaching out to my parents,” Ryan Boogaard wrote in an e-mail to the Star Tribune. “He didn’t have to do it as he could have just worn No. 24, but he thought of Derek and our family before doing so. I knew that someone would eventually wear No. 24, and I was not expecting them to reach out to us, so when Matt did, I could not have been happier.”

Cooke, 34, is known for his long list of questionable hits, but he says he has done his best to clean up his act. The stats seem to support this.

Cooke has been suspended six times for a total of 25 regular-season games and seven playoff games. He has been fined four times for the maximum $2,500 each time. But he hasn’t been suspended or fined since a 17-game suspension in March 2011 for his head shot on the Rangers’ Ryan McDonagh.

Last season, he had 36 penalty minutes, tied for 118th in the NHL. In 2011-12, he was tied for 216th in the NHL with 44 penalty minutes. He has played every game the past two seasons. Other than one 10-minute misconduct, he hasn’t had anything but a minor penalty the past two seasons.

Cooke said he is “committed to the process that I’ve started and ensuring I’m not suspended moving forward.”

Development camp

The Wild hit the ice for development camp Tuesday, but the week also includes fitness training, leadership training, media training and nutrition training.

“In my time we thought eating a McChicken at McDonald’s was healthy. It was white meat,” said retired winger Andrew Brunette, the Wild’s hockey operations adviser who grabbed a whistle to instruct Tuesday. “Things have changed a lot.”

Dumba shoots for NHL

One Wild player intent on making the team next season is 2012 first-round draft pick Matt Dumba, 18. The hard-hitting, hard-shooting defenseman got a taste of the NHL in January when the Wild opted to keep him on the roster the first eight days of the season so he could be a sponge.

“That’s my objective, to play in the National Hockey League this fall,” Dumba said. “I really want to earn myself a spot on this team.”

Because of his age, Dumba will either have to make the Wild or return to Red Deer of the Western Hockey League this fall.

Etc.

• Some prospects will not participate in this week’s three 3-on-3 tournaments that are open to the public (Thursday, 3:30 p.m.; Friday, 2:45 p.m.; Saturday, 2:45 p.m.). They are Brett Bulmer (lingering injury), Gustav Olofsson (wrist surgery), Louis Nanne (shoulder surgery) and Mario Lucia (exams at Notre Dame).

• Youngsters Jonas Brodin, Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund, Jason Zucker and Nino Niederreiter aren’t at camp because “they’ve played a lot of games and we know they take care of themselves,” assistant General Manager Brent Flahr said. Niederreiter, who lives in Switzerland, and Granlund plan to train with Wild captain Mikko Koivu in Turku, Finland, later this month.